


Tender Loving Care

by DarthAnimus



Category: Tales of Graces
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Hurt/Comfort, Sick Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-09-12 09:20:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9065632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarthAnimus/pseuds/DarthAnimus
Summary: Asbel has fallen ill. Sophie will not stand for this.





	

**Author's Note:**

> A Secret Santa gift for [nelfes](http://nelfes.tumblr.com/) on tumblr. Requests checked are favorite character Sophie and Graces Friendship Trio relationship.

Sophie looked at Asbel's fever-reddened face and furrowed brows and decided that her important friend's state was unacceptable. She instantly decided that flu was the worst condition that trumped everything they'd encountered during their journeys; at least poison and its ilk could be cured with a spell.

Even Richard was aware of how dreadful Asbel's condition was when he commented to the bedridden Asbel: "You look terrible, my friend."

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't rag on me for my looks right now," Asbel murmured slowly, voice a touch hoarse. "Lambda's already on my case for being bedridden."

Greatly disapproving of what she heard, Sophie placed a hand on Asbel's heated forehead and spoke sternly: "Lambda, be nice to Asbel. He's sick."

Asbel chuckled and smiled at the girl. "Thanks for sticking up for me, Sophie."

Sophie petted Asbel's forehead gently. Her mind was made up. "Don't worry, Asbel," she declared. "I will nurse you back to health."

"You really don't need to," Asbel replied, only for his voice to be almost completely drowned out by Richard blurting out: "I'll help!"

So it was decided, and by majority vote too. Sophie would heal Asbel, no matter what it took.

\---

"First things first, Asbel needs to eat well to regain his strength," Richard said as he and Sophie checked the Lhant Manor kitchen for supplies. "We will need to make something nutritious."

"Delicious, too," Sophie insisted. "Asbel needs to enjoy his food."

"True, true," Richard murmured as he looked over possible ingredients. "But what should it be?"

"Asbel loves curry," Sophie offered. "I think we should make him some."

"Good idea!" Richard immediately pulled out the rice and moved towards the cooler for the meat. "A lot can go into making curry. What should we put in?"

To Sophie, it was obvious. "Crablettes."

"Hmm..." Richard gave it some thought before saying; "Maybe not, that would take a lot of cooking, making first crablettes and then the curry. But crab would be good."

"Third row, Asbel always stores crablette ingredients there," Sophie offered, and received an appreciative hum from her companion as he took out the crab meat.

Richard was really getting into the spirit of cooking then, since he gave Sophie a bright smile as he asked: "Do you think we could add natto too?"

Sophie thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. It was fair enough, since she got to pick one of her favorites as an ingredient as well.

There was a triumphant laugh from Richard as he went shuffling through the cupboards for natto. Sophie wasn't sure where it would be held, or if Asbel even would have some, but Richard wasn't impeded. Indeed, soon enough there was another triumphant laugh and Richard waved a can of natto in front of Sophie. He was also kneeling on the counter, and Sophie wondered if that should have put a damper on his regal disposition.

Sophie pushed the thought aside, deciding that royal poise probably didn't belong in the kitchen anyway and enjoyed cooking a dish together with one of her favorite people.

\---

"Why is it so lumpy?" was Asbel's first question when the tray with the plate full of curry was placed in his lap. "What are all these white blobs?"

"Either crab or beans," Richard replied easily. "It's what Sophie and I put in, so that would make sense."

"Crab and bean curry..." Asbel gave the dish a considering look. Then he shrugged. "I do like curry. Thanks for the food," he commented before shovelling a couple of spoonfuls into his mouth.

Sophie leaned forward eagerly, observing Asbel's reactions. The ailing lord had a determined look on his face as he ate, and Sophie wondered what kind of an opponent the plateful of food made for Asbel.

Then, promptly, Asbel threw up.

\---

"Obviously, curry is too heavy a dish to feed a sick person," Richard said with authority after the twosome had helped Asbel freshen up, tucking the object of their concerns back under a clean blanket. "Asbel needs soup or broth."

"Frederic always says that chicken soup is the best for sickness," Asbel commented, voice now decidedly rough from what it had only recently been put through.

"Excellent!" Richard clapped his hands together and gave Asbel an encouraging grin. "Worry not, my friend. We'll make you the most delicious chicken soup you've ever eaten." He turned to Sophie. "Isn't that right, Sophie?"

Sophie nodded her head emphatically. "Don't worry, Asbel," she said gently. "We'll take care of you."

"You really don't have to," Asbel said, but his voice was so weak that Sophie decided that she really did have to. Asbel needed her.

\---

Getting ingredients for chicken soup ended up being more of a challenge than the preparation of the curry had been.

"Well, it's only to be expected," Richard said with a lamenting sigh. "You can just throw what you like into curry, but chicken soup is always chicken soup."

"We're out of chicken," Sophie deadpanned. "Cider too."

"Chicken can be easily taken care of," Richard replied. "Cider might take some work. It's not in season."

"There are chicken running around the town," Sophie offered.

"But those belong to someone, and we'd need to find the owner to buy the thing." Richard frowned in thought. "It would be easier if we could just think of a _person_ we could get chicken from."

The two exchanged a look. It was really quite obvious, now that they'd paused to actually give it some thought. Richard lifted his brows meaningfully and Sophie nodded. Then they were off.

\---

"Un-believable," was the first thing out of Cheria's mouth when Sophie and Richard voiced their request. The redhead crossed her arms and asked the duo in a warning voice: "Why do you think I have chicken lying around?"

"You always make chicken dishes," Sophie pointed out. "It's your favorite."

"I'm just following Sophie's expertise," Richard piped in, dodging any responsibility.

Cheria gave them both an unimpressed look. "Are you two suggesting that I eat chicken so much that I'm bound to have extra stashed away?"

Sophie and Richard exchanged a look, measuring their options in terms of an answer. Richard's face twitched, nominating him as the speaker and the two turned back to Cheria. Sophie nodded her head once, slowly and with intent, while Richard asked simply: "Do you?"

The three spent several moments staring at each other. Finally Cheria murmured, once more, under hear breath: Un-believable." She sighed before saying out loud: "Wait here, and I'll get a container."

Soon enough Richard was holding a small container of precooked chicken strips.

"Thank you, Cheria," Sophie said kindly as Richard gave a small bow of gratitude.

"It's no bother," Cheria murmured with a slight blush. She hesitated for a moment. "Do you two need help cooking?"

"We couldn't possibly ask that of you, Cheria," Richard said graciously. "You were already over this morning with that lovely herbal tea you'd prepared."

"Right." Slowly, a smile came to Cheria's face. "Didn't _you_ drink the most of that?"

Richard's polite smile looked painted on, Sophie mused. Then it spread into an equally painted grin. "Well, Sophie and I need to go get started on cooking! Captain Malik is coming over to check on Asbel, too. Wouldn't want to miss that!"

Sophie was promptly dragged off, but she did wave goodbye to Cheria on the side.

\---

"Chicken soup for ailing Asbel?" Malik didn't sound entirely convinced of Sophie and Richard's endeavour when the two had finished informing him of what they were up to. "And you don't have all of the ingredients?"

"We got the chicken from Cheria," Sophie said with pride.

Malik chuckled, amused at the words. "Is that all you were missing?"

"We still need something to replace the cider," Richard said. "So a suitably similar beverage."

"Richard said you should know about these things," Sophie offered. "Can you help us find a replacement, Captain?"

"Oh?" Captain Malik struck a slightly exaggerated thinking pose as he stared up at the ceiling. "Well, if I'm the resident booze expert..."

"More like you've been of legal age to drink the longest," Richard offered diplomatically. "I'm sure you're tried a couple of things."

The look on Malik's face was the one that was usually followed by the captain saying something others would disapprove of.

"It's for Asbel." Sophie clenched her fist with determination.

Malik hesitated for a moment, then the look on his face softened. "Well, cider is a sweet drink, so you need something else sweet to replace it, for the sake of flavor."

"Champagne is sweet," Richard said with delight. "I'm sure there's some in the wine cellar."

"I'd say wine is a safer bet in cooking," Malik corrected with a chuckle. "Many dishes use either red or white wine, but port wine would certainly be sweeter."

"Excellent! I'll go get some." And with that, Richard was off.

Sophie started prepping the pans and other ingredients. At one point she turned over to Malik. "Do you think Asbel will like it?"

"Of course." Malik released a boisterous laugh. "What could go wrong?"

\---

In hindsight, Sophie thought she probably should have tried to curb Richard's enthusiasm just a bit. The king had looked so happy pouring wine into the soup straight from the bottle, and no one had thought to stop him before half of the bottle was already gone.

"Boiling will get rid of the alcohol," Richard had insisted and Sophie had brought the finished soup over to Asbel's room.

Now, Asbel looked even more flushed than before, the soft pink of fever turning into a darker red of drunken stupor.

Sophie was starting to think that this might not have gone all according to plan.

"It's fine, it's fine," Asbel slurred even as Richard kept repeating his apologies. "I actually feel pretty good." Asbel was lying in his bed, looking halfway melted from drunk relaxation. He lifted his empty soup bowl into the air. "In fact, I think I could use some more."

"No more," Sophie said sternly. Richard looked apologetic enough to grant the request so Sophie shot the king a warning look. She remembered something she'd heard before. "You should drink more responsibly."

"But it's technically eating," Asbel commented. "And it's not like I'm getting out of bed, there's no danger in getting drunk."

"What was that?" an icy voice came from the doorway. "Who's getting my brother drunk?"

Everyone in the room turned around as one to see Hubert in the bedroom hallway, wearing his most disapproving glare.

"And I'm here too!" cried out Pascal, who draped herself over Hubert's shoulders for a dramatic entrance.

Sophie made a move to retreat, which brought Pascal's attention to her immediately.

"Sophie!" the inventor cried out as she charged into the room, tripping right on top of Asbel's bed when Sophie dodged her leaping hug. Asbel released a pained grunt and Hubert also stormed into the room, making worried and huffy noises as he did so.

"Well, you clearly don't need me anymore," Malik said and slipped out of the room before anyone could register what he'd said, let alone try to stop him and hold him responsible.

"Hi, Hubert." Asbel smiled widely up at his younger brother. "Where did you come from?"

"Cheria let everyone know when you first fell ill," Hubert explained briskly. "I merely came to see that your treatment doesn't resemble mistreatment." He pulled the soup bowl out of Asbel's grip. "I'm leaning towards the latter descriptor here."

"Asbel seems happy," Sophie felt it necessary to point out. Really, it wasn't that bad.

Hubert glanced at her, then shot another look at Asbel. "Yes, well," he grumbled, "an important part of recovering from a cold is staying hydrated. Getting drunk is counterproductive to that, since it makes you lose liquids."

"We boiled the wine." Richard crossed his arms. "Shouldn't the alcohol have evaporated?"

"Only around seventy percent of alcohol evaporates in the case of boiling or burning," Hubert lectured importantly. "Never mind that wine is at least twice as rich in alcohol as cider to begin with."

"What do we do?" Sophie asked in concern. "Will Asbel be alright?"

Hubert looked flustered and somewhat regretful. "I'm sure it's not that serious," he assured Sophie. "We just need to make extra sure he keeps hydrated."

"Maybe I could invent something to help," Pascal offered, lifting a hand to bring more attention to herself. "Like, I could put something together where we insert a tube into Asbel that'll automatically have liquids going into him."

"We are not inserting anything into my brother," Hubert said sternly, even as Pascal grabbed on to his arm to hang off of him.

"Come oooon." Pascal swung back and forth, tugging on Hubert's arm. "It would be so efficient."

"No." Hubert started to walk out of the room, Pascal being dragged along by her own grip on him. "Just make sure he naps and drinks enough."

Sophie saluted the passing Hubert, intending to take her job very seriously. She then moved over to Asbel's bedside. "You heard what Hubert said, Asbel. Are you thirsty?"

"Not really," Asbel said. "I could take a nap."

Sophie nodded.

Richard reached over to ruffle Asbel's messy hair. "Take a nap, and we'll wake you up for a drink in an hour or so."

\---

The juice Hubert had brought back up had ended up being drunk by people other than Asbel too, but Asbel did get the lion's share of it. Several hours and glasses of juice later Asbel was beaming at Sophie and Richard from his position sitting in his bed.

"I feel great," Asbel said with some amount of wonder. "I have to say, getting drunk made it much easier to sleep."

"Job well done, then," Richard said before lying down over Asbel's legs. "I need a vacation."

"You are on vacation," Asbel insisted. "That's why you're here."

"Well, I need a vacation from vacationing."

Sophie thought Richard looked quite comfy on the bed with Asbel, so she also climbed on next to Asbel. "Me too," she said as she threw an arm around Asbel. Taking care of a sick person was a lot of work.

"Fine, fine, just try not to catch this," Asbel said with no real protest in his voice. "We don't need more sick people."

Sophie had never really been sick in the way Asbel was. Maybe she couldn't get sick. She pointed this out to the other two.

"I think it's the loving care you get," Richard replied, settling more comfortably on top of Asbel's legs. "It's the best medicine, after all."

"Is that what you're contributing my recovery to as well?" Asbel queried. He settled down with a contented sigh. "Fair enough."

Loving care, Sophie mused to herself, was possibly the most powerful curative force in the universe. She'd have to remember that.


End file.
